In 1699AD Guru Gobind Singh created the khalsa.He administered pahul to five devotees at congregation held on the Vaisaki day at Kesgarh, Anandpur Sahib.The baptism symbolised complete & rejuvenation. These five devotees of the guru through a process of intense mystic communication & spiritual fusion,were tranformed into saint soldiers. To their piety was added the element of militancy.They embodied abiding courage.The very fact that they had decided to follow the great master showed that they had been cast in the heroic mould & had overcome the fear of death & attained sublimity of the soul. Otherwise they would have not been able to muster the courage to lierally lay their heads at the feet of the master.They imbibed the essence of the teaching of the gurus who had been for over two centuries,trying to spiritually rejuvenate a supine people groaning under the attrocities of the rulers & foreign invader for over six centuries.

By baptising Daya Ram (a khatri from Lahore),Dharam Das (a jat by caste from Jagan Nath),Mohkam Chand (a water man from Dwarka),& Bhai Sahid Chand (a barber by caste from Bidar Karnatka),the Guru did give a militant edge to the sikh movement. The very fact that the five beloved of the Guru hailed from different parts of india shows the vastness & the intensity of the impact of the sikh movement.The age old barriers of cast stood demolished.

Along with the warrior classes (kshatries)the traditionally non warrior classes,too had been turned into crusaders against injustice. But we must not equate militancy with militarization when we talk of the Saint Soldiers created by Guru Gobind Singh.We must think of men who as they were free from the fear of death could fight to the finish,even if the fight appeared to be impossible.They fought for a cause.The very resolve to participate in the struggle was moral resolve.The resolve did signify a shift from the sword,from pacifism to militarism from passivity to militancy.This resolve signified that the votaries of the Gurus were not ready to embark upon the struggle to uproot predatory rules who would not listen to reason.The militancy was an expression of a basically spiritual world view.The sword was not to replace the rosary.The devout bhaktas absorbed in their love for the lord did not become the votaries of the cult of power.

Generally we think that militancy is the opposit of spirituality.we think that the two terms are contradictory. This however is not correct. spirituality is a sublime apporoach to life. It need not imply an escape from life.It ought to retain human sensibility,demolish the walls of ego & selfishness & prepare men shifted from the real to ideal.This awareness of the ideal creates in men the strength to protest against all that discord & disharmony & the desire for domination.This protest may be violent or non violent, passive or milutant.

We must keep in mind that the sikh tradition creates saints whoif need be would also be a soldiers.The rosary was not discarded for the sword. The Saint Soldiers even in the thick of the battle,would meditate on god as they wielded the sword.The wars they fought were to protect the people`s right to exist with honour & dignty.The guru fouht against sovereignty of those who would not even recognised the existence of other human beings.The guru`s mission was to protect the saints & eliminate the evil.The objective was to restore divine harmony. The Sikhs struggle for freedom from domination.This struggle was must be placed in the context of Guru Tegh Bahadar`s perception of a man of knowledge & wisdom.According to the ninth master a man of wisdom desists from the desire to dominate.At the same time he stands against those who want to dominate & subjugate him.